Prince Edward Island lobster fishermen participating in the fall fishery say they’re experiencing one of the best seasons they’ve had since the mid 1990s.
Catches in Lobster Fishing Area 25, which is harvested from late summer until early fall on P.E.I., are reportedly on par with the past few seasons, which have been excellent in most areas and prices have surpassed expectations.
Craig Avery, president of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association, said the members of his organization are pleased with the season, which closed on Oct. 12.
“Definitely quite pleased overall,” said Avery.
The Fishermen’s Association said they’ve been getting reports of prices on the wharfs ranging between five to six dollars a pound for canners and as high as $6.25 a pound for markets. One buyer was reportedly offering as much as $6.50 a pound for markets.
Canners are the smallest sized lobsters fishermen can legally catch — their carapace size, minus the tail, must be 72 mm.
The prices being offered by buyers on the Island are up considerably from where they were even a few years ago.
In 2009 and 2010 many Island fishermen turned to peddling some of their catches themselves, usually in the more urban centres, just to squeeze a little bit of extra income.
Prices at that time seemed to hover in the $2.75 a pound for canners and $3 a pound for markets range.
At those prices, fishing license holders are just hoping to break even, said Avery, and he knows of a lot captains that only fished for a few weeks then went to find work in Western Canada for the rest of the season, and a few that didn’t fish at all.
As for what is driving the price resurgence, Avery said, it’s not one thing in particular.
The low Canadian dollar, strengthening U.S. economy and continued interest from markets in China and Europe have certainly helped matters, he said.
The greatest factor influencing the rise in prices for fishermen is the increase in demand for the product, he added and credits that with various marketing efforts in different sections of the industry.
“It’s mainly demand. I feel a lot of it is to do with people promoting and marketing the product,” said Avery.
Maine, he pointed out, has upped its lobster marketing game of late, as have individual companies like Clearwater in emerging markets in Asia.
Even the P.E.I. Fisherman’s Association is getting into the marketing game. The Association recently launched its own Master Lobster brand.
Its only product so far is a blanched whole lobster, which is produced at Royal Star Foods in Tignish, P.E.I., but Avery said the organization is expecting to expand its offerings in the future.
It’s been a two-year process to get Master Lobster up and running, added Avery, but the initial response has been strong and he sees a time when the effort will start paying dividends to fishermen.
Money for the effort, about $200,000, came from government programming and the Association’s own revenue.
A one-cent per pound lobster levy, collected from Island fishermen and expected to start being collected in 2016, will also go towards helping to promote and develop the brand.
